Decomposer



April 7, 1959 E. A. ZDANSKY 2,881,123

I DECOMPOSER Filed March 29, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. MIL/J fll-Md April 7,1959 E. A. ZDANSKY DECOMPOSER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 29, 1956 I April 7, 1959 E. A. ZDANSKY DECOMPOSER Filed March 29, 1956 4' she ts-sheet 3 g E m FIG. 5

INVENTOR.

April 7, 1959 E. A. ZDANSKY 2,331,123

DECOMPOSER Filed March 29, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 a l W United States Patent DECOMPOSER Ewald Arno Zdansky, Monthey, Switzerland, assignor to Lonza Elektrizitiitswerke und Chemische Fabriken A.G., Basel, Switzerland Application March 29, 1956, Serial No. 574,674

Claims priority, application Switzerland April 1, 1955 4 Claims. (Cl. 204-256) The present invention relates to decomposers such as a decomposer for decomposing water into pure hydrogen vide a decomposer of the above type wherein the axial width of each cell is extremely small.

Another object of the present invention is to provide each cell with end plates capable of conducting current from the cathode of one cell to the anode of the next cell.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a simple structure which forms the conduits for collecting gas from the cells and leading the gas to gas separator tanks.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an extremely simple insulating means for sealing a pair of outer rings of each cell from each other and capable of being easily separated from the rings during disassembly of the decomposer even after a long period of time.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a decomposer of the above type with a safety means for preventing continued flow of fluid when pressure in a part of the structure falls to an undesirably low value.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a simple and efiicient means for mounting the diaphragms which respectively divide the cells into anode and cathode chambers.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement for quickly and easily assembling the cells.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a means for reliablymaintaining the cells in their operative position in the assembly.

With the above objects in view, the present invention mainly consists of an electrolytic water decomposer having a plurality of series connected decomposer cells. Each of these cells includes an outer endless means which defines the outer periphery of the cell, and a pair of mutually spaced electrodes are located in each cell. A diaphragm is connected at its periphery to the endless means and is located between the electrodes and divides each cell into an anode chamber and a cathode chamber. A pair of electrically conductive end plates which define each cell therebetween are connected, at their peripheries to the endless means. Each end plate has raised portions respectively engaging one electrode of each cell and one electrode of the next cell, so that the neighboring electrodes of neighboring cells are interconnected by the end plates.

The novel features whichare considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: M

Fig. l is a partly sectional, partly diagrammatic side elevational view of a decomposer according to the present invention, parts of the structure being broken away;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the structure of Fig. 1 as seen from the right side thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view through'one of the decomposer cells, Fig. 3 being taken along line III-III of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view to an even greater scale than Fig. 3 and is taken along line IVIV of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of a group of decomposer cells associated with structure used for assembling the decomposer;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along line VIVI of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale of part of the structure shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line VIIIVIII of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 9 shows part of a sealing ring of the decomposer during its assembly to the form it takes before being located in the decomposer.

Referring now to the drawings, the individual decomposer cells have the form of circular discs of a diameter of approximately 1.0-1.5 meters and a thickness of 8-15 mm. A few hundred of such cells are assembled in a row into a column of several meters in length and having a horizontal axis, the thus assembled cells being clamped between a pair of massive end plates 2 and 3. These end plates are interconnected and pulled together by six strong bars 4--9. As is shown in Fig. 3, the bars 49 are formed with elongated grooves directed toward the cells and in each of these grooves there are a plurality of porcelain rollers 58 which engage the outer periphery of the cells, these rollers being arranged in rows in the grooves of the bars 49 and forming a cage in which the column of cells is located. A bipolar source of electricity U has one of its poles connected by the conductor 10 to the end plates 2 and 3 and the other of its poles connected by the conductor 11 to a central contact member 12 electrically connected to the central cell of the row of cells so that the current flows from the center of the assembly toward the ends thereof in the direction of arrows C and C indicated in Fig. 1.

In the particular example illustrated in Fig. 1, four groups of cells I, II, III, IV are located between the end plates 2 and 3 and each of these groups of cells is located between a pair of auxiliary end plates 13 and 14 in the form of annular rings. In Fig. 1, the visible bars 4, 8, and 9 are broken away at their intermediate portions to show the auxiliary end plates 13 and 14 of the group of cells III. As is evident from Fig. 1, the annular end plate 14a of group II engages the ring 13 of group III and the annular end plate 13a of group IV engages the ring 14 of group III. The pull devices 15, 15a, 16 and 17, 17a, 18 which pull the auxiliary end plates ofgroup-III together are shown in Fig. 1 simply to illustrate the manner in which the decomposer is assembled and will be referred to in greater detail below.

A pair of gas separator tanks 20 and 21 in the form of elongated drums of cylindrical cross section are located over the horizontal column of decomposer cells, the tanks 20 and 21 respectively communicating at their rightends with elastic, arcuate, yieldable tubes 22 and 23 and at their left ends with an identical pair of tubes of which only the tube 22a which communicates with the left end of tank 20, as viewed in Fig. l, is visible. The arcuate tubes which communicate respectively with the ends of the elongated gasseparator tank 20 respectively communicate with a gas collecting conduit 24 which passes through and communicates with the several cells for directing oxygen to the tank 20, while the arcuate tubes which respectively communicate with the opposite ends of the tank 21 respectively communicate with he ends of a. gas collecting conduit 25 which communicates with the several cells and directs hydrogen to the tank 21. These elastic arcuate tubes maintain the tanks in communication with the cells even thoughthe tanks and cells ex: pand: and contract: at different rates due to temperature changes. The" conduits 24 and 25 are parallel to each other and pass through all ot the cells, as indicated at the upper portion of Fig. 3,. and as is shown in Fig. 6 the conduit 24 is provided with bores 56 which communicates with the anode chambers A of the several cells so that oxygen is collected in the conduit 24 and directed to the tank 20. In the same way the conduit 25 communicates through transverse bores with the several cathode chambers of the cells for collecting hydrogen and directing the hydrogen to the tank 21. The gases which flow through the conduits 24 and 25 and the arcuate tubes communicating with the same carry liquid electro lyte to the tanks 20 and 21 and these tanks serve to separate the gas from the electrolyte. The electrolyte which is separated from the gases in the tanks 20 and 21 flows through the conduit 31 which communicates with both tanks to the filter 34. After passing through the filter the electrolyte is distributed by conduits 31a and 31b, which communicates with the discharge end of a pump 35 which draws the electrolyte through the filter 34, to opposite ends of a conduit 36 communicating with the anode and cathode chambers of all cells and passing longitudinally through the cells at a lower portion thereof. Thus, the electrolyte which is returned to the cells flows from the opposite ends of conduit 36 toward the center thereof. The fiow of electrolyte may be observed by a device 33 forming part of conduit 31 (Fig. 1) and including a bladed wheel or the like which is turned by the moving liquid and which is connected to an element visible to the operator and rotating together with such a wheel, for example, so that in this way the attendant may check the flow of electrolyte. The circulation of the electrolyte is accelerated by the pump 35 to such an extent that the entire electrolyte content of the apparatus is circulated once in less than2 hours.

For reasons of safety, a valve means is located in the paths-pf flow from the tanks to the filter 34, on the one hand,.and from the filter to the conduit 36, on the other hand. Thus, valves 32 and 32a are respectively located in the portions of conduit 31 which communicate with the tanks 20 and 21, and the valves 37 and 38 are respectively located in the conduit portions 31a and 31b which-communicate respective with the ends of the conduit 36. As is evident from Fig. 1 where three of these valves are shown in section, these valves are normally maintained open by springs, the liquid flowing through openings formed in the movable valve member which is engaged by the spring. However, it is evident from the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 that if the pressure in conduits 31a and 31b falls sufficiently below the pressure in. conduit 36, the-valves 37 and 38 will automati- ,cally close -while' if the pressure'in conduit 31 fa1ls sufficiently; below tha'tof thetanks '20 and 21-the'valves 32 and 32a Will -automatically close, so that in this way all of the structure outside of the tanks and cells will be automatically cut ofiffrom communication-with the tanks andcellsdtfor any reason there is a sharp pressure drop ,inthis structure outside of the tanks and cells by reason of a l eak, for example. The yalves are. designed to close,

automatically when there is a predetermined pressure differential betweenthe tanks and cells, on the one hand, and the structure outside ofi the tanks and cells, on the other hand, and this differential may be 0.5 atmosphere, for example, if desired. A manometer 39 is connected electrically with an alarm sounding device 40 for automatically energizing the latter to alert the personnel when there is a drop in pressure of the above magnitude of 0.5 atmosphere, for example.

As is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the gas separator tanks 20 and 21 communicate with each other through a series of substantially U-shaped conduits 26 distributed along the tanks and communicating with lowerportions thereof. The liquid level ab of tank 20 and cd oftank 21 is indicated in Fig. 2, and since the liquid in the lower portions of the tanks fills the conduits 26, if there should be a difference in the pressures of the gases respectively located in the tanks, this difference would immediately be compensated b'y'hifting' of the liquid levels z'z-b and c--d and with this arrangement there can never be a pressure difference of more than a few centimeters of water between the hydrogen and oxygen chambers. The movement of the liquid levels is sensed by unillustrated floats which in a known way control the valves 29 and 30 respectively located above the tanks 20 and 21 so that the gas pressures in the tanks is again equalized. The gases flow to the valves 29 and 30 through wash towers 27 and 28, respectively, water being supplied to these towers through the conduit 19. As is known, the water supplied to the scrubbers 27 and 28 by' the conduit 19 flows downwardly along the scrubbers in counter current to the gases moving upwardly through the scrubbers.

The construction of the individual cells 1 may be seen from Figs. 3, 4, and 6. Each cell includes at its outer periphery an endless means in the form of a pair of metallic rings 41 and 42 made, for example,of steel. The inner peripheries of the rings 41 and 42 are of reduced cross section to provide inner annular ribs 43 and 44 on the rings 41 and 42, respectively. Furthermore, each of the rings 41' and 42 of each cell is formed at its inner periphery with an annular groove, and the grooves 51 and 52 of the rings 41 and 42, respectively, are indicated in Fig. 4.

Each cell is limited by a pair of end plates, and twosuch end plates 45 and 46 are shown in Fig. 4. These plates have peripheral portions located respectively within the grooves 51 and 52 and have a thickness equal to the width of these grooves so that the connection between plates 45 and 46 and rings 41 and 42, respectively, is fluid tight. The plates 45 and 46 act as bipolar partitions separating each cell from the next cell. The interior volume of the cell Z indicated in Fig. 4 is thus determined by the right half of ring 41, the left half of ring 42, and the left and right walls 45 and 46. A sealing ring 47 is located in a fluid tight manner between the rings 41 and 42, and under the action of the pole bars 4-9 the sealing ring is compressed in an unshiftable manner into the annular grooves 53 formed in the side faces of each ring 41, 42.

A diaphragm 48 is located in each cell between the end plates 45 and 46-thereof, and this diaphragm is preferably made of asbestos paper and has a thickness of approximately 3-4 mm. Each diaphragm 48 divides the cell in which it is located into a cathode chamber K and an anode chamber A. Each diaphragm 48 is located between and engaged at its opposite faces by a pair of metallic meshes 49 and 50, respectively, which are substantially coextensive with the diaphragm and serve as active electrodes, these me'sh'es' being made, for example, from a weave of iron wire havinga thickness of approximately 0.8 mm. and

having, for example, on the order of 18 meshes per square inch. The peripheries of each diaphragm 48 and the electrodemeshes 49 and 50 engaging the same are clamped between the neighboring ribs 43 and 44 of the rings 41 and 42. The sealing ring 47 extends between the diaphragnp- 48 and one of the electrodes, this being the electrode 50 in Fig. 4, so that because the sealing ring is made of an electrically non-conductive material a direct fiow of current between the rings 41 and 42 through the sealing ring is prevented. Preferably, and in accordance with the present invention, the inner periphery of the sealing ring extends inwardly beyond the inner peripheries of the rings 41 and 42 by a radial distance d, indicated in Fig. 4, so that the sealing ring extends inwardly beyond the clamping zone E between the rings 41 and 42, and in this way any current paths between the outer rings 41 and 42 are necessarily so long that no current lines end at the rings 41 and 42 and the only significant current flow in each cell takes place in the desired manner by diffusion of the electrolyte, through the asbestos diaphragm 48, as is known. The radial distance d should be equal to approximately one half the axial width Z of each cell.

The end plates 45 and 46 are made of deep drawn sheet metal and are provided with a pattern of bulging portions or corrugations 45a, 45b and 46a, 46b which alternately extend to opposite sides of the plane in which each end plate is located, this plane passing through the groove 51 in the case of plate 45 and through the groove 52 in the case of plate 46 in a direction normal to the axis of the decomposer. The raised portions 45a which extend to the left, as viewed in Fig. 4, engage the electrode 50a of the cell to the left of that shown in Fig. 4 while the raised portions 46b of plate 46 extend to the right into engagement with the electrode 4% of the cell located to the right of that shown in Fig. 4. As is evident from Fig. 4 the raised portions of the plate 45 and 46 are formed by bulging portions of these plates, and because the plates are made of a springy material their raised portions press the electrodes against the diaphragms. Each plate 45 thus produces a great number of short, parallel connected current paths from electrode 50a to electrode 49 and each plate 46 produces a great number of short parallel connected current paths from electrode 50 to electrode 49b, electrodes 50a and 50 acting as anodes and electrodes 49 and 49b acting as cathodes. The fixed, uniform distribution of the electrode meshes over the opposite faces of the diaphragm supports the latter and prevents the diaphragm from falling apart and becoming dissolved into the electrolyte. The size of the electrolyte chambers K and A remains unchanged by the above described construction of the end plates 45 and 46 and the reduction in volume and cost of manufacture and assembly of conventional elements for completing the circuit between the electrodes of neighboring cells is avoided by the end plates 45 and 46 of the present invention.

In Fig. 3 a part of the end plate 46 and the ring 42 connected thereto as well as part of the diaphragm 48 are cut away and the upper positions of gas collecting conduits 24 and and the lower position of the electrolyte return conduit 36 are shown. Furthermore, it is evident from Fig; 3 that the end walls 45 and 46 are each provided with a flat smooth peripheral portion R surrounding the field of raised portions. This smooth peripheral portion R should have a radial width of at least mm.

The axial width Z of each cell indicated at the lower portion of Fig. 4 and extending from the plane of left plate to the plane of right plate 46 is equal in practice to only approximately 8-15 mm. For clarity of illustration all horizontal dimensions of Fig. 4 are approximately double their actual size while all vertical dimensions of the structure shown in Fig. 4 is approximately one half the actual size. Thus, one can appreciate the extremely thin, fiat, disc, circular shape of each cell.

The raised portions 45a, 45b and 46a, 46!) extend from the planes of the plates 45 and 46, respectively, by a maximum distance of 10 mm. In this way there is no undesirable reduction in thickness of the plate at the raised portions thereof. The plates have springy characteristics which with proper choice of the cell dimensions provide a strong springy force making good electrical contact between the electrode meshes and the end plates of the 6 cells. In order that there be a sufficient number of contact points to transfer the relatively large current of 10-20 amperes per square decimeter, the distance D (Fig. 4) between raised portions of each plate which extend to the same side thereof should be less than 50 mm.

The conduits 24, 25, and 36 are of a similar construction, and this construction may be seen in Fig. 6 where the details of a part of conduit 24 are shown. As is evident from Fig. 6, the alternating end plates and electrodes are formed with a row of aligned openings where each conduit is located. The conduit 24 is shown in Fig. 6 as composed of a series of tubular members 54, 54a extending through the aligned openings of the end walls 45 and 46 and having shoulders engaging these end walls. Nuts 55 and 55a are threadedly carried by the tubular members 54 and 54a for clamping the latter to the end plates, respectively. The end faces of the tubular members 54- and 54a respectively engage the diaphragms in a fluid tight manner, and these end faces are provided with inner annular projections extending into the openings of the diaphragms, as indicated in Fig. 6. Thus, elements 54, 54a, 55, 55a form a plurality of tubular means which together form the conduit 24, this series of tubular means being fixed to and extending through the openings of the end plates into fluid tight engagement with diaphragms at the openings thereof. As is evident from Fig. 6 each tubular means is a mirror image of the next tubular means. The diaphragms are clamped between the successive tubular means. The compressibility of the diaphragms makes it possible to provide a complete fluid tight seal between the diaphragms and plurality of tubular means. The conduit 24 should communicate only with the anode chambers of the several cells in order to collect oxygen for directing the same to the tank 20, and thus the several tubular elements 54, 54a, etc. which constitute the conduit 24 are respectively formed with transverse bores 56, 56a, etc. communicating with the anode chambers, as indicated in Fig. 6.

The plurality of tubular means which constitute each conduit are made of an electrically non-conductive material. They are best composed of polyethylene with fluorine in terminal groups, such as the polymerisate of trichlorofiuoroethylene (known under the trade name of Hostafion) and tetrafluoroethylene (known under the trade name of Teflon). These materials are best because they have the best long range resistance to the hot electrolyte and do not give up any components to the electrolyte which can become deposited on the electrodes and increase the separating voltage at the electrodes. Because these polymerisates are very expensive, however, the tubular members 54, 54a, etc. are made of a mixture of these polymerisates and asbestos. The same is true of the nuts 55, 55a, etc.

The conduit 25 has a construction identical with that shown in Fig. 6 for the conduit 24. However each tubular member of the conduit 25 is located on a particular end plate in a reverse position with respect to the tubular member forming part of conduit 24, so that the transverse bores 56, 56a, etc. of the tubular members constituting the conduit 25 communicate with the cathode chambers of the several cells. In this way hydrogen moves from the cathode chambers through the conduit 25 to the tank 21. The conduit 36 has the same construction as the conduit 24 shown in Fig. 6, except that each tubular means is provided with transverse bores on both sides of the end plate carrying the same so that the conduit 36 communicates with the anode and cathode chambers to provide them uniformly with fresh, thinned electrolyte. Thus, when the nuts and tubular members which constitute the series of tubular means of the conduit 36 are fixed to the end plates, holes are drilled directly through the nuts and tubular members so that there is no problem in aligning the bore portions of the nuts with that of the tubular members. This problem would arise if the bores through the nuts and.

lytic connections to all of the cells. If the entire cross section of the bores communicating with any one anode or cathode chamber is smaller than 7 rnmP, however, then the electrical resistance of the electrolytic connections in relation to the resistance of the cell is so great that the current flow resulting from the electrolytic communication provided by the conduits is far less than 1% of the total current flow and is therefore negligible. Thus, the entire cross section of the bores communicating with any one anode or cathode chamber is smaller than 7 mmfi, in accordance with the present invention.

With the above described cell construction the losses due to the resistance of the cells are extremely small and the cells themselves are so small that it is possible to assemble a greater number of the cells of the invention in a decomposer of a given size than is possible with conventional cells, and thus the above described structure provides a far greater output than conventional structures of the same outer dimensions. During operation the gas of the decomposer is maintained at a minimum pressure of atmospheres because with such a pressure the volume of the rising gas bubbles is reduced because of the compression of the bubbles so that the electrolyte displaced by the extremely small bubbles no longer undesirably influences the conductivity of the small cell chambers. It is then possible to operate with the smallest possible power loss due to electrical resistance.

Of even greater importance than this latter power loss is the power loss resulting from hydrogen-over-voltage. This latter loss is reduced by covering the cathodes with a highly active coating such as a layer of platinum black, for example. Such a coating very greatly reduces this loss and it is advantageous to limit this coating to the cathode meshes so that the hydrogen separation takes place only at the cathode meshes, while the rings and end Walls no longer participate in the electrolysis. In this way, embrittlement of these latter elements by absorption of hydrogen is avoided. This is of particularly great'significanc'e for the end walls 45 and 46 which thus maintain their strong resilient stresses. The coating applied to the electrodes 49, 49a, which coating may be palladium instead of platinum, requires only a small thickness. Thus, less than 10 g'r./m. is required.

With all conventional decomposers, there isa slow continuous increase in cell voltage, with a corresponding decrease in efliciency, during the first months of operation which cannot be avoided. It is believed in the art that this phenomenon is the result of deposition on the electrodes of inhibitors derived from the electrolyte or the non-metallic parts of the apparatus. It is possible to retard such depositions by the use of extremely clean electrolyte, but up to the present time the elimination of such depositions has not been possible. It has been found, however, that the cell voltage may be maintained practically constant by the use of distilled supply water which is rendered salt free by use of an ion exchanger after distillation, if all of the electrically non-conductive elements which come into contact with the hot electrolyte have an outer surface of polyfiuoroethylene as describedabove. Of particular importance in this connectionare the properties ofthe sealing rings 47.

Inasmuch as the sealing rings 47 must be compressedcompletely and uniformly into the annular grooves 53 of elements 41 and 42, as shown in Fig. 4, these sealing rings are made of an easily deformable core which is c'overediby an envelope of thinpolyfluoroethylene'. It

is best to make the core of a ring 47a composed of asbestos paper with a rubber binder, and this core, as shown in Fig. 9, has a band 47b of polyfluoroethylene foil Wrapped around it with the successive convolutions of the Wrapping overlapping each other in a manner which provides at practically every point of the core 47a a double layer of the foil 47b. A sealing ring of this construction does not become impregnated with the hot electrolyte even when in direct contact with the same and thus maintain their high electrical insulation properties even within the interior of the cells.

A further important advantage of a sealing ring having an outer envelope of polyfluoroethylene is that such a sealing ring will not adhere to the steel rings 41 and 42 even after years of operation of the decomposer. Thus, these sealing rings are readily separated from the metal rings when the decomposer is disassembled and can thereafter he used again when the apparatus is assembled.

On the other hand, the outer surface of such sealing rings are so smooth that the individual cells can no longer be mounted directly in their final position as has been customary up to the present time, because there would be the danger of a cell or group of cells slipping out of the row of cells. To assemble the cells of the present invention, a base 57 is used, as shown in Fig. 5, and an auxiliary end plate in the form of a ring 13 is placed on this base. Then a plurality of individual cells are placed in a horizontal position on the auxiliary plate 13 with these cells arranged one above the other to form a group of cells such as the group III. After the topmost cell has been placed on the stack, the other auxiliary end plate in the form of a steel ring 14 is located on the stack and then the pull means 15 and 17 are connected to the auxiliary end plates 13 and 14 to compress the stack. The pull means 15 is composed of a pair of bars 15 and 15a in threaded engagement with oppositely threaded portions of a screw member 16 which is turned to draw the members 15 and 15a together, these members terminating in hook portions which engage annular flanges extending outwardly from the rings 13 and 14 at the sides thereof directed toward the cells, as is evident from Figs. 1 and 5. In the same way the pull means 17 is composed of a pair of bars 17 and 17a threadedly engaging oppositely threaded portions of a screw member 18 which is turned to pull these bars together, the bars 17 and 17a also having hook portions which engage the flanges of the auxiliary end plates 13 and 14. A plurality of pull means of this construction are distributed about the group of cells, and in the example illustrated four such pull means are connected to the end plates 13 and 14 and are angularly spaced from each other by As soon as the group of cells on the base 57 are pulled together to the desired extent by the plurality of pull means, the group which is now held together by the plurality of pull means is removed as a unit from the base 57 and transported to its proper mounting position in the assembly. There all of the groups of cells I-IV are arranged in a row between the massive end plates 2 and 3. After the assembly is completed the auxiliary end plates 13 and 14 remain in the assembly while the auxiliary pull means 15-18 are removed after the pull bars 4-9 have been tensioned to the desired extent.

In order to facilitate the assembly of the apparatus, the pull bars 4--9 are provided with roller-like insulating bodies 58, as shown in Figs. 3, 7 and 8. As is shown in Fig. 8, the bars 49 are formed with longitudinal grooves 56 directed toward the cells and the insulating bodies 58 are located in each of these grooves in a row.

The bodies 58 are made of porcelain or a similar ceramic material. Since it is possible to manufacture only short lengthsof ceramic material with the required accuracy, a plurality of the relatively short bodies are arranged in spaced relation along each groove 56, as is shown with thebodies 53, 58a, 58b, 58c shown in the groove 56 of bar Lin Fig. '8. These ceramic rollers are ground at their outer surfaces to the proper size, and their ends are rounded so that the rings 41 and 42 can freely slip along the ceramic bodies when tension is applied to the bars for'pressiug the cellstogether.

In the actual assembly of the apparatus the groups of cells l-lV are placed only uponthe ceramic rollers 58 carried by the lowermost bars 7 and 8, the bars 4-6 and 9 having been previously removed. As is evident from Fig. 3, the rollers 58 will rest by gravity in the upwardly directed grooves of the lowermost bars 7 and 8. After the groups of cells are thus located between the end plates and on the rollers 58 of bars 7 and 8, the remaining bars 4-6 and 9 are placed in position extending through openings of the end plates 2 and 3 with their grooves 56 directed towards the' cells. Then the ceramic rollers 58 are'inserted into the grooves of bars 4-6 and 9 from an end of the latter and slipped along the assembly until they have the desired distribution, and these rollers will not fall at this time because of their engagement with the cellsr-and bars. At this time nuts are placed on the ends of the bars and these nuts are slowly and carefully turned while preventing turning of the bars so as to gradually tension the bars. Any lateral slipping of a particular group of cells is prevented by engagement of the cells with the cage formed by the insulated bodies 58. The tension .isapplied to the bars 4-9 until the sealing rings 47 are compressed to the desired extent between the rings 41 and 42. As is evident from Fig. l, the pull means 15-18 of one group of cells are staggered with respect to the pull means of the next group of cells so that the pull means of adjacent groups of cells do not interfere with each other and after the assembly is complete the pull means are removed. 1

It should be noted that the auxiliary end plates 13 and 14 are of essentially the same construction as rings 41 and 42 and cooperate in the same way with elements of the decomposer. They differ from rings 41 and 42 only by being thicker than the same and by being provided with the outer flanges which are engaged by the pull means 15-18. Thus, the rings 13 and 14 are provided at their inner peripheries with ribs of a reduced cross section corresponding to the ribs 43 and 44 shown in Fig. 4 and are formed with grooves at their inner periphery corresponding to the grooves 51 and 52 and receiving end plates 45 and 46. Sealing rings 47 are located between adjacent rings 13 and 14 and between the latter and adjacent cells, and furthermore between adjacent auxiliary end rings of the groups of cells such as rings 13 and 14a or rings 14 and 13a shown in Fig. l are located a diaphragm and a pair of electrodes which are clamped between these rings in the manner described above in connection with Fig. 4. A diaphragm and a pair of electrodes are also clamped between each end cell of a group of cells and the auxiliary end plate adjoining the same. Tubular means having the construction shown in Fig. 6 are carried by the end plates connected with the end rings of the several groups of cells. Thus, the auxiliary end plates at the end of each group of cells does not in any way alter the continuity of the series of cells, and the only ditference in the construction at these auxiliary end plates, in addition to the above mentioned greater thickness of the rings 13 and 14 is that the tubular members which form parts of the conduits 24, 25, and 36 are longer than the remaining tubular members in order to traverse the greater distance from the end plates to the diaphragms caused by the greater thickness of elements 13 and 14, and also the raised portions of the end plates extend to a greater distance from the planes of the end plates joined to elements 13 and 14 in order to traverse the greater distance to the electrodes in order to make the desired electrical contact therewith. Thus, with this arrangement there is provided between the massive end plates 2 and 3 an uninterrupted row of series connected decomposer cells.

1'0 1' 'AS'L'Wa'S mentioned above, the'decornpo'ser is operated at a pressure which is 5 atmospheres as a minimum in order to keep the volume of the gas bubbles as small as possible. However, this pressure of.5 atmospheres isonly a minimum value. In practice it is preferred to operate the above described decomposer at a pressure of approximately 30 atmospheres.

Although the particular details of an embodiment according to the invention has: been described above, it is' evident that at several points it is possible to vary the disclosed details without departing from the invention. Thus, the end walls 45 and 46 may be made of corrugated sheet metal pressed fiat at the peripheries of the endv walls. Also, one or more of the conduits 24, 25 and 36 may pass through the rings 41, 42, instead of through the end plates and diaphragms, and with such an arrangement sleeves of electrically non-conductive material would be provided to engage the sealing rings 47 .at bored portions- 31b and also the motor which drives the pump 35 is maintained above and spaced from the floor. As is evident from Fig. 2 as well as from the central portion of- Fig. l where the bar 8 is broken away, the massive supports are located in pairs opposite each other with cross bars interconnecting each pair of aligned supports to prevent anytendency of the row of supports engaging the bar 8 to move away from the row of supports engaging the bar 7. Moreover, the tanks 20 and 21 are not supported exclusively by the arcuate tubes interconnecting them with the conduits 24 and 25. As is evident from Figs. 1 and 2 each of the end plates 2 and 3 carries an upwardly extending support which engages and supports tank 20 and an upwardly extending support which engages and supports the tank 21.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of decomposers differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in water decomposers, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departmg in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In an electrolytic water decomposer, a plurality of series connected decomposer cells each of which comprises, in combination, an outer endless means defining the outer periphery of each cell; a pair of mutually spaced electrodes located in each cell; a diaphragm connected at its periphery to said endless means and located between said electrodes and dividing each cell into an anode chamber and a cathode chamber; and a pair of electrically conductive end plates defining each cell therebetween, connected at their peripheries to said endless means, and each being in the form of a thin sheet of springy metal having circular, substantially dome-shaped hollow bulging portions extending from both of its faces and engaging one electrode of each cell and one electrode of the next cell, so that the neighboring electrodes of 11 neighboring cells are electrically interconnected by said end plates.

2. In an electrolytic water decomposer, a plurality of series connected decomposer cells each of which comprises, in combination, an outer endless means defining the outer periphery of each cell; a pair of mutually spaced electrodes located in each cell; a diaphragm connected at its periphery to said endless means and located between said electrodes and dividing each cell into an anode chamber and a cathode chamber; and a pair of electrically conductive end plates defining each cell therebetween, connected at their peripheries to said endless means, and each being in the form of a thin sheet of springy metal having circular, substantially dome-shaped hollow bulging portions extending from both of its faces and engaging one electrode of each cell and one electrode of the next cell, so that the neighboring electrodes of neighboring cells are electrically interconnected by said end plates, said bulging portions being closely spaced over substantially the entire plate and alternately extending to opposite sides of a plane in which said plate is located.

3. In an electrolytic water decomposer, a plurality of series connected decomposer cells each of which comprises, in combination, an outer endless means defining the outer periphery of each cell; a pair of mutually spaced electrodes located in each cell; a diaphragm connected at its periphery to said endless means and located between said electrodes and dividing each cell into an anode chamber and a cathode chamber; and a pair of electrically conductive end plates defininig each cell therebetween, connected at their peripheries to said endless means, and each being in the form of a thin sheet of springy metal having circular, substantiallydome-shaped hollow bulging portions extending from both of its faces and engaging one electrode of each cell and one electrode of the next cell, the bulging portions which extend from one of said faces of said plate merging with bulging portions, respectively, which extend from the other of said faces of each plate.

4. In an electrolytic water decomposer, a plurality of series connected decomposer cells each of which comprises, in combination, an outer endless means defining the outer periphery of each cell; a pair of mutually spaced electrodes located in each cell and each being in the form of a metallic wire mesh; a diaphragm connected at its periphery to said endless means and located between and engaging said electrodes and dividing each cell into an anode chamber and a cathode chamber; and a pair of electrically conductive end plates defining each cell therebetween, connected at their peripheries to said endless means, and each being in the form of a thin sheet of springy metal having circular, substantially dome-shaped hollow bulging portions extending from both of its faces and engaging one electrode of each cell and one electrode of the next cell, so that the neighboring electrodes of neighboring cells are electrically interconnected by said end plates, said bulging portions of'said end plates pressing said electrodes against said diaphragm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,094,728 Levin Apr. 28, 1914 1,211,687 Dohmen Jan. 9, 1917 1,239,530 Schriver Sept. 11, 1917 1,272,397 Dohmen July 16, 1918 2,070,612 Niederreither Feb. 16, 1937 2,075,688 Zdansky Mar. 30, 1937 2,717,872 Zdansky Sept. 13, 1955 2,767,135 Juda et al Oct. 16, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 892,885 France Jan. 17, 1944 679,334 Great Britain Sept. 17, 1952 OTHER REFERENCES The Chemical Age, Aug. 26, 1944, pages 197 to 202. Yelton: Transactions of the Electrochemical Society, vol. 90, 1946, pages 331 to 340. 

1. IN AN ELECTROLYTIC WATER DECOMPOSER, A PLURALITY OF SERIES CONNECTED DECOMPOSER CELLS OF WHICH COMPRISES, IN COMBINATION, AN OUTER ENDLESS MEANS DEFINING THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF EACH CELL; A PAIR OF MUTUALLY SPACED ELECTRODES LOCATED IN EACH CELL; A DIAPHRAGM CONNECTED AT ITS PERIPHERY TO SAID ENDLESS MEANS AND LOCATED BETWEEN SAID ELECTRODES AND DIVIDING EACH CELL INTO AN ANODE CHAMBER AND A CATHODE CHAMBER; AND A PAIR OF ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE END PLATES DEFINING EACH CELL THEREBETWEEN, CONNECTED AT THEIR PERIPHERIES TO SAID ENDLESS MEANS, AND EACH BEING IN THE FORM OF A THIN SHEET OF SPRINGY METAL HAVING CIRCULAR, SUBSTANTIALLY DOME-SHAPED HOLLOW BULGING PORTIONS EXTENDING FROM BOTH OF ITS FACES AND ENGAGING ONE ELECTRODE OF EACH CELL AND ONE ELECTRODE OF THE NEXT CELLS, SO THAT THE NEIGHBORING ELECTRODES OF NEIGHBORING CELLS ARE ELECTRICALLY INTERCONNECTED BY SAID END PLATE. 